DCM 2014: Mentored Novices Thread

Ososlo

Tyrone_03 wrote: »

Running a big city marathon is the only chance for the vast majority of us to feel like proper athletes.

The cheers from the crowds is something special and is absolutely brilliant.

Enjoy the atmosphere and 'high 5' as many kids as you can!

That's so true. The crowd really make you feel like a running superstar on the day:D

Tyrone_03

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Yeah if I do it that's what I'm planning. If you do it at your lsr pace what time-ish would you be out there for? My only 20 miler so far took me just under 4 hours, bit concerned that I could be the last left on the course!!

You'll be grand.

Don't concern yourself with things like that.

26.2 miles is 26.2 miles regardless of the time taken.

Ososlo

Tyrone_03 wrote: »

The training has been going great. I am following the Hal Higdon plan so I have 1 more 20 miler to get done.
Most of my long runs have been with a group of people from my running club which definitely helps.

I did the Great North Run in 1.41 and followed it up last week with a 1.39 half in Derry. I added a few miles on at the end of both races to get the miles in.

Working hard and trying to stay injury free. I am pretty confident of nailing the 3.45 however I am also aware that anything can go wrong on race day.

Great stuff. Looks like you're well set. Keep us posted with how your training is going. Don't be shy about helping me out here too and imparting your experience:D:D:D

Firedance

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Yeah if I do it that's what I'm planning. If you do it at your lsr pace what time-ish would you be out there for? My only 20 miler so far took me just under 4 hours, bit concerned that I could be the last left on the course!!

there must be other novice marathoners doing it though who's pace might match ours, my 19 miles took 3.5 hours so yeah prob close to 4 hrs, sure feck it if I'm last home who cares, its just a way to do my 20 miler with some company even if just for a while!

Tyrone_03

In fairness you have all angles covered with your fantastic posts.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread.

Good luck to all newbies!

laura_ac3

Firedance wrote: »

there must be other novice marathoners doing it though who's pace might match ours, my 19 miles took 3.5 hours so yeah prob close to 4 hrs, sure feck it if I'm last home who cares, its just a way to do my 20 miler with some company even if just for a while!

Hopefully. Similar to myself, I do all of my running by myself which is mostly fine but I thought the novelty of running somewhere different and having company around me for one of the really long runs would be a nice change.

I only just signed up for the main event itself 5 mins ago so one sign up at a time for me, will decide on athlone later in the week.

Laois_Man

I won't think too much about pace for about another 3 weeks. But I'm pretty sure I'll go with the 3:20 pacers.






























Yes. I'm joking!

Dub13

I did a 16k slow run tonight, still taken it easy after the half I will not do any faster runs till the end of the week. I tired out the high vis vest we got and its a nice bit of kit, I seen a few of them along my run as well which was good to see.

I will get good use out of it anyway as I tend to look like a cat bugler when out for runs in the dark, I am always weary of approaching woman from behind so not to frighten them. Jesus that sentence reads very creepy...:)

Ososlo

Dub13 wrote: »

I did a 16k slow run tonight, still taken it easy after the half I will not do any faster runs till the end of the week. I tired out the high vis vest we got and its a nice bit of kit, I seen a few of them along my run as well which was good to see.

I will get good use out of it anyway as I tend to look like a cat bugler when out for runs in the dark, I am always weary of approaching woman from behind so not to frighten them. Jesus that sentence reads very creepy...:)

creepy is one word!

annapr

frash wrote: »

Was running up that last hill thinking I was giving it everything but then someone near me started playing 'Eye of the Tiger' out loud.
I suddenly got a burst of energy and started over-taking people but it only lasted 100 yards so maybe I had given it all at that stage.

Finished in 2:02:41 so faster than my 2:05:00 target & knocked 7 mins of my PB from the Clontarf Half in July.

Hoping to do 20 mile LSR this weekend with 18.5 being my furthest to date.

We must have been very close... saw that eye of the tiger girl too near the end! It seemed to work for her, she got a great spurt of energy. At the Frank Duffy I passed some women playing Sunday Morning Sidewalk... Maybe they were trying to go slow!!

Despite the kick from eye of the tiger, I wish these people would get themselves some earphones and not inflict their music on the rest of us... Running three abreast with music blaring from a bad speaker... I'll stop now before I get kicked over to the rant thread.

Dub13

I just used the Runner's world calculator. I entered my half time for Sat and Its pretty spot on for my other PB's, but I think the full marathon time would be a push.

Based on your Half Marathon time of 1:43:54, these are your projected finish times:

1500 Meters: 6:18

1 Mile: 6:48

3K: 13:09

5K: 22:35 (PB 22:13)

5 Miles: 37:24 (PB 37:28)

10K: 47:05 (PB 48:02)

10 Miles: 1:17:59 (PB 1:17:21)

Marathon 3:36:37

frash

annapr wrote: »

We must have been very close... saw that eye of the tiger girl too near the end! It seemed to work for her, she got a great spurt of energy. At the Frank Duffy I passed some women playing Sunday Morning Sidewalk... Maybe they were trying to go slow!!

Despite the kick from eye of the tiger, I wish these people would get themselves some earphones and not inflict their music on the rest of us... Running three abreast with music blaring from a bad speaker... I'll stop now before I get kicked over to the rant thread.

I also saw the 3 you speak of.
Them playing "sisters are doing it for themselves" also made me run faster but it was more to get away from them!

LaHaine

hey guys

Im hoping to try for sub 4. Did the half in 1.45. Did a comfortable twenty in 3.15.

Another twenty planned for this week. im wondering would it be better to run it at say a pace of 9.30 or the usual 10 minute miles with some mp miles included.

Basically id like to use this as a test of whether sub 4 is on.

crisco10

OK....so back on this thread after a torrid 5 weeks. Long story short, missed most of August and early September with a hamstring strain.

I don't think I'm in too bad shape but maybe I'm delusional. The last week in July, I did a 19 miler lsr; did rock'n'roll half in August in 90mins. It all went downhill then. Got a couple of 10 mile LSRs in in August...That was basically it until lat week where I got another 10 miler in followed by a 16 mile LSR yesterday (feel fine today).

Each of these weeks, my other mileage roughly matched the lsr. (no speedwork though) But there have been a few zero (or close to) weeks in there. My plan was to get in 2 or 3 more 18-20 miles lsr. Then have a 2 or 3 week taper. Is that enough? (taper and long runs...)

at this stage, I'm forgetting about target times and just thinking about finishing in a "decent" time.....Are the odds likely that I'm in for a painful race if I go?

Eigeen

Well done on the Half Marathon folks!!

Another good week under the belt with five milers on Tue, Wed, and Thursday.

First 20 miler on Saturday in three hours on the button. No major dramas. Ran it on a pretty tough road too with plenty of hills. Confidence building but pleased with the step back this week. Feels like a weekend off only having a 12 mile LSR on Saturday.

Mimojo

Ososlo wrote: »

Hi guys
I know you're all eager to start thinking about choosing your target marathon time so I guess we'll get the discussion going.

Cheers Ososlo for the very informative post of calculating target marathon time, brilliant as always, think you deserve a medal at this stage for all the invaluable advice, support & encouragement given in this thread, super super stuff.

Looking at my time from the Half, 2:09:30, I have put this into the various calculators and coming out with a predicted time around 4:30. I feel like the half didnt go that well for me & I might have done it a little bit faster, so I am hoping to aim to go with the 4:30 pacers on the day, I hope that this is achievable.

My longest run so far is 20 Miles and that took me 3hr 40 (Pace of 11) so if I had done another 6 miles would have added about another 66 minutes to that time, so would have ended in 4hr 46min. I know that this is all hypothetical, but just trying to evaluate what I am able for!

Hoping on the day would be a little bit quicker, so hoping that 4hr 30 is achievable & relatively comfortable. I dont want to go out too fast (like in the other races) so think that following the pace group will help me.

I read in a post above that the race "only starts at 20 miles"....this sentence really scares me!!!

This is my first marathon & I am only properly running a few months so all I want to do is finish the marathon in one piece & enjoy the experience. I dont want to set myself an unrealistic goal so any advice is appreciated!

Also I am away next weekend so planning on swopping the 20 mile and 13 miles around, so planning a 20 mile this Sat, and 13 the following weekend. I did the half at the weekend so think I should be ok for 20 on Saturday. I am wondering if it possible to do a final 20 mile on Saturday 11th Oct or is this too close to the race? Plan was to do last lsr then so would have 1 x 18.5 & 3 x 20 under my belt, and taper from there. I missed an lsr a few weeks ago with injury which was a pity but couldnt be helped.

frash

Mimojo wrote: »

Cheers Ososlo for the very informative post of calculating target marathon time, brilliant as always, think you deserve a medal at this stage for all the invaluable advice, support & encouragement given in this thread, super super stuff.

Looking at my time from the Half, 2:09:30, I have put this into the various calculators and coming out with a predicted time around 4:30. I feel like the half didnt go that well for me & I might have done it a little bit faster, so I am hoping to aim to go with the 4:30 pacers on the day, I hope that this is achievable.

My longest run so far is 20 Miles and that took me 3hr 40 (Pace of 11) so if I had done another 6 miles would have added about another 66 minutes to that time, so would have ended in 4hr 46min. I know that this is all hypothetical, but just trying to evaluate what I am able for!

Hoping on the day would be a little bit quicker, so hoping that 4hr 30 is achievable & relatively comfortable. I dont want to go out too fast (like in the other races) so think that following the pace group will help me.

I read in a post above that the race "only starts at 20 miles"....this sentence really scares me!!!

This is my first marathon & I am only properly running a few months so all I want to do is finish the marathon in one piece & enjoy the experience. I dont want to set myself an unrealistic goal so any advice is appreciated!

With a time I've 2:09 I'd have thought you'd be more comfortable with the 4:40 pacers.
I ran a 2:02 on Saturday & I'm leaning more towards the 4:40 than the 4:30 pacers right now but I'll see how this week's 20m LSR goes.

Mimojo

frash wrote: »

With a time I've 2:09 I'd have thought you'd be more comfortable with the 4:40 pacers.
I ran a 2:02 on Saturday & I'm leaning more towards the 4:40 than the 4:30 pacers right now but I'll see how this week's 20m LSR goes.

Hi Frash

You are probably right, 4:40 prob will be more comfortable. I feel pretty clueless on this, and dont want to make the wrong decision so 4:40 prob is the way forward. If you are doing 4:40 I shall see you there!

Will see how this weekends LSR goes too before I make a final decision.

crisco10

I'm sure I looked very odd taking this photo, but I spotted the paint on the road for 22 mile marker!.

Just at the top of (not)- heartbreak hill with the lovely downhill of Fosters' Ave ahead!

At this point, most people on this thread will be in new territory distance wise!

Laois_Man

rainbow kirby wrote: »

@Laois_Man - trust me when I say that if you have done a 20 miler and toughed it out despite pain you WILL finish on the day, but you absolutely must focus on getting to the start line healthy. Get to the physio this week and pretty much do as you're told. Take any injury precautions you are told to take, wrap yourself in the metaphorical cotton wool if you need to! I was in a smilar situation 4 years ago for Dublin, I got injured (inflamed right hip bursa) in my longest long run of 18 miles, spent most of late September and early October in the pool and on the exercise bike and elliptical, managed 9 miles the week before the race, had a world of pain on the day but managed to finish.

Consider just maintaining now distance wise - you ran 30 miles this week, consider possibly redistributing that though the week, 13 - 7 - 5 - 5 or similar might be a slightly healthier spread of mileage for you at the moment.

Sorry for not acknowledging your kind advice - I somehow missed this until now.

I am at the physio tomorrow evening and I will get a sports massage there.

I actually ended up with 36 miles on the clock at the end of last week - good improvement over the last couple of weeks. I think when I take an entire view of all my LSR's, what I have gotten through really isn't too bad. However, the downside is many of the other weekly runs have been missed and that's where my training has fallen down a bit. I am hoping to avoid the "world of pain on the day" though, so I'd like my next 3 weeks to go close to this

Week|Date|LSR Distance|Distance all Week|% LSR Week Total
2|July 5|14|26.8|52.24%
3|July 12|14|25|56%
4|July 19|15|31|48.39%
5|July 25|15|26|57.69%
6|Aug 3|12|17|70.59%
7|Aug 8|16|32|50%
8|Aug 15|17|30|56.67
9|Aug 23|FD10|25|N/A
10|Aug 29|18|26|69.23%
11|Sep 5|18.2|28.2|64.54%
12|Sep 12|2 (injured)|6|N/A
13|Sep 19|20|36|55.56%
14|Sep 26|20.2|43.2|46.76%
15|Oct 3|21.2|14|44.2|47.96%
16|Oct 10|14|37|37.84%

I'd be dead interested in seeing other people's same analysis.

It's really worthwhile to do even just for yourself.

MLC_biker

Mimojo wrote: »

Cheers Ososlo for the very informative post of calculating target marathon time, brilliant as always, think you deserve a medal at this stage for all the invaluable advice, support & encouragement given in this thread, super super stuff.

Looking at my time from the Half, 2:09:30, I have put this into the various calculators and coming out with a predicted time around 4:30. I feel like the half didnt go that well for me & I might have done it a little bit faster, so I am hoping to aim to go with the 4:30 pacers on the day, I hope that this is achievable.

My longest run so far is 20 Miles and that took me 3hr 40 (Pace of 11) so if I had done another 6 miles would have added about another 66 minutes to that time, so would have ended in 4hr 46min. I know that this is all hypothetical, but just trying to evaluate what I am able for!

Hoping on the day would be a little bit quicker, so hoping that 4hr 30 is achievable & relatively comfortable. I dont want to go out too fast (like in the other races) so think that following the pace group will help me.

I read in a post above that the race "only starts at 20 miles"....this sentence really scares me!!!

This is my first marathon & I am only properly running a few months so all I want to do is finish the marathon in one piece & enjoy the experience. I dont want to set myself an unrealistic goal so any advice is appreciated!

Also I am away next weekend so planning on swopping the 20 mile and 13 miles around, so planning a 20 mile this Sat, and 13 the following weekend. I did the half at the weekend so think I should be ok for 20 on Saturday. I am wondering if it possible to do a final 20 mile on Saturday 11th Oct or is this too close to the race? Plan was to do last lsr then so would have 1 x 18.5 & 3 x 20 under my belt, and taper from there. I missed an lsr a few weeks ago with injury which was a pity but couldnt be helped.

I too have the dilemma between 'enjoying the experience' and 'setting a goal'.Also a marathon virgin Ran 2;08 in the half, have decided to go slow and enjoy the experience so going with the 4:50 pacers and see where I am after Heartbreak Hill

Mimojo

MLC_biker wrote: »

I too have the dilemma between 'enjoying the experience' and 'setting a goal'.Also a marathon virgin Ran 2;08 in the half, have decided to go slow and enjoy the experience so going with the 4:50 pacers and see where I am after Heartbreak Hill

Hi MLC, I think there is a lot to be said for going with a slower pace group & enjoying the experience. It has been mentioned here so many time about enjoying your first marathon, plenty of time to run a faster one! What worries me is the fear of the unknown, ie those last 6 miles, which I can only imagine are going to be hellish!! Even if the first 20 miles are ok going with faster pace group, those last miles will be the real challenge, so might be as well go a slower group & have something left to get through the end! I have to say I am very nervous...but very excited about the prospect of DCM - thinking about actually crossing the finish lines makes me want to cry (with joy!!)

adrian522

Mine would look something like this, still not sure about mileage for the taper weeks but maybe something like the below.

Week|Date|LSR Distance|Distance all Week|% LSR Week Total
2|July 7|12|43.8|27.3%
3|July 14|12|48.2|24.8%
4|July 21|14|53.2|26%
5|July 28|14.3|44.4|32.2%
6|Aug 4|18.4|60|30.66%
7|Aug 11|20|63.4|31.5%
8|Aug 18|14.3(FD)|50.2|28.4%
9|Aug 25|20|56|35.7%
10|Sep 1|20.1|59.1|34%
11|Sep 8|22.3|70.7|31.5%
12|Sep 15|17.2(Half)|55.6|30.9%
13|Sep 22|18|59|30.5%
14|Sep 29|16|57|28%
15|Oct 6|14|45|31%
16|Oct 13|10|39|25.6%

Firedance

Mimojo wrote: »

Hi MLC, I think there is a lot to be said for going with a slower pace group & enjoying the experience. It has been mentioned here so many time about enjoying your first marathon, plenty of time to run a faster one! What worries me is the fear of the unknown, ie those last 6 miles, which I can only imagine are going to be hellish!! Even if the first 20 miles are ok going with faster pace group, those last miles will be the real challenge, so might be as well go a slower group & have something left to get through the end! I have to say I am very nervous...but very excited about the prospect of DCM - thinking about actually crossing the finish lines makes me want to cry (with joy!!)[/QUOTE]

apparently we will have no moisture left for tears :eek: those last 6 miles are worrying me too, my heart is saying 'surely it can't be that bad' my head knows though that all those people hitting the wall around then happens for a reason! My understanding though is if we do this right we may never hit a wall.
1. Hydrate well in the days coming up to it (or from now really!)
2. Start slow....
3. Take water & your choice of fuel at regular intervals
4. Stay slow until final miles (then push on if you have it in you?)
5. Fall into the stretcher Ososlo will have waiting for all of us at the finish line :-D

Am I missing anything?! Will we remember ANY of that in all the excitement on race day?!

Joleigh

http://m.runnersworld.com/race-training/10-marathon-day-mistakes?page=1

Might be of interest

Mimojo

apparently we will have no moisture left for tears :eek: those last 6 miles are worrying me too, my heart is saying 'surely it can't be that bad' my head knows though that all those people hitting the wall around then happens for a reason! My understanding though is if we do this right we may never hit a wall.
1. Hydrate well in the days coming up to it (or from now really!)
2. Start slow....
3. Take water & your choice of fuel at regular intervals
4. Stay slow until final miles (then push on if you have it in you?)
5. Fall into the stretcher Ososlo will have waiting for all of us at the finish line :-D

Am I missing anything?! Will we remember ANY of that in all the excitement on race day?!

No moisture left for tears, holy moly!!! Ya I keep telling myself “shur it cant be that bad”, but I am pretty sure it really is that bad, and more! But then again look at all the people who successfully completely a marathon, if they can do it we can do it too! Plus all the training for the past few months will stand to us, again stuff I keep telling myself when the doubts creep in!

Great advice, I am going to start hydrating from today so, I should all set for the 27th! Slow and steady seems to be the way to go, I am eager to stick with the pacer group as my last 2 races I took off like a mad yolk and paid the price at the end. I doubt I will be able to push as much as a feather in the final miles, I just hope to shuffle along! I hope I can remember all of this on race day, I can image the excitement and nerves when the day does roll around, it will be hard to stay focused and remember all of the bits of advice within this thread, think I might have to write it all down and recite it as I go around!

Great to hear that Ososlo will be waiting with stretchers for us all lol!! If she could also have a stiff drink ready for me that would be super! :D:D

denis160

I keep getting butterflies even thinking about it, can't imagine what I'll be like the morning of it :eek:

Ososlo

LaHaine wrote: »

hey guys

Im hoping to try for sub 4. Did the half in 1.45. Did a comfortable twenty in 3.15.

Another twenty planned for this week. im wondering would it be better to run it at say a pace of 9.30 or the usual 10 minute miles with some mp miles included.

Basically id like to use this as a test of whether sub 4 is on.

Hey
imo the more time on your feet for the 20 the better so I'd go somewhere between 9:40 and 10 if you plan on running around 9 min miles on the day. Stick in some mp miles though for sure

gingersnap

MLC_biker wrote: »

I too have the dilemma between 'enjoying the experience' and 'setting a goal'.Also a marathon virgin Ran 2;08 in the half, have decided to go slow and enjoy the experience so going with the 4:50 pacers and see where I am after Heartbreak Hill

I'm the same, I really want to enjoy the experience as much as I can and don't want to push too hard at the beginning in case I hit the wall later on. I'm thinking 5hrs would be more realistic for me (half in Clontarf in July was 2:21)

RedRunner

Dub13 wrote: »

I just used the Runner's world calculator. I entered my half time for Sat and Its pretty spot on for my other PB's, but I think the full marathon time would be a push.

Based on your Half Marathon time of 1:43:54, these are your projected finish times:

1500 Meters: 6:18

1 Mile: 6:48

3K: 13:09

5K: 22:35 (PB 22:13)

5 Miles: 37:24 (PB 37:28)

10K: 47:05 (PB 48:02)

10 Miles: 1:17:59 (PB 1:17:21)

Marathon 3:36:37

Hi Dub13,

Everybody is different but this might be a useful reference since I think you and I are very similar in terms of times.

In April I did a 3:52 marathon. This was off a 1:39:50 HM 6 weeks earlier and a fairly uninterrupted training schedule (for a change!) with just one week of 17 missed due to illness. My 10k PB at that time was 46:42 (prev Nov).

In the marathon I had a few issues with cramping and fatigued badly in last 7k but otherwise was well on course for sub 3:45. If everything goes well for you on the day I reckon 3:50 is definitely on for you but i would put any thoughts of 3:36 right out of your head now. The marathon in April was my third marathon in four years. My current times suggest sub 3:30 on calculators but I would have been aiming for sub 3:40 in Dublin if I was running it.

This is not Gospel or anything but since your training is so similar and times, (we even have same address code!) I thought you might find it useful information.